The 16th annual Floor Installation Association of North America (FIANA) was recently held at the Hyatt Regency Riverfwalk in San Antonio, Taxes.  The venue and the agenda were very well received by the attendees, manufacturers and distributors alike.  Many felt it was the best conventions they have been to in several years.  Overall attendance was up slightly from last year.  There were three new manufacturers exhibiting at the trade show.  The mood was definitely up within the group but still with some caution as to when we will see a truly clear upward trend.  Manufacturer and distributor management said they had excellent opportunities to meet one on one and there were good future relationships developed.  A definite benefit of the Association.

Highlights of the convention as always was the trade show, which was open Friday, 12:00 noon to 6:00 pm and continuing Saturday, 8:00 am to 12:00 noon.

Two other events had a positive impact on the member attendees.  First, the speakers; Jon Trivers, Sam Allman and Charles Marshall, made powerful and informative presentations, ranging from the current state of the floor covering industry, to how to act with strategies to deal with these uncertain times and the industry facts presented.  The attendees were extremely appreciative of the information presented.

Second, was the tremendous interest in the FIANA Training Center program, introduced at our last convention.  Several manufacturers are now planning to introduce courses into the internet training program and several distributors have committed to implement programs within their organizations to focus on the opportunity to support a very cost effective training for their employees, inside sales, outside sales, and branch team members.

The 2011 convention will be held September 15-16-17, 2011 at the Hyatt Crown Center in Kansas City, Kansas.  Encouragingly, 50% of the trade show exhibit booths have already been reserved.